Cookbook Review: Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen

7:07 AM

I have to admit, I'm a Gordon Ramsay fan. Yeah, he's almost eye-wateringly vulgar, he can be actually mean, and he's got the face of a busy fighting dog. But, I think Gordon's war on fussy food and stupidity in the Kitchen Nightmares series (esp. the UK version) makes for really fun TV.Tana, his wife or former wife (not up on my Brit tabloids) has a few cookbooks out, and because I caught it on Amazon for $4.99, I went ahead and bought Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Every Family.On Balance, I like this book. She has some nice ideas about pushing the culinary envelope with kids, although I don't foresee mine eating Moroccan-style lamb with ginger and apricots anytime soon. The desserts and children's party ideas are lovely, especially for very young kids (3-5), not so sure older ones would really appreciate the style. Some of the side dishes earned dramatics from the Fussy American Children, but were eventually eaten and enjoyed (mushy peas...).The layout is good and the pictures are nice. The family photos of the kids are endearing. I think she tries a bit too hard to give the reader the sense she is a 'regular mum'. Of course you aren't, that is why we are buying your book, silly woman!Forewarned though, the book is in desperate need of kitchen testing and careful editing. Recipes call for things like a 'good dollop', list sugar in the ingredient list and then don't tell you when to use it (for something where sugar isnt an obvious ingredient), no cake pan sizes are given etc.. These sorts of problems are prevalent and really spoil the book from a technical point of view.Get it from the library to be inspired, but don't try to use it as a reference book.